Portofino South

I learned that Fred Sargent, our longest working doorman, had been let go. I felt I wanted to say to him ” Thank You ” for all his years of service so I emailed the office to provide me with his telephone number or email but my email was never answered. I then called the door after closing hours of the office and asked if he had Fred’s number and was told it had been washed from the computer.

Did the office think I would not find it?

If anyone would like to call Fred I would very happy to provide the number to you. I think he was very happy to hear that someone who cared enough do think of him. He is looking for another door job or security so if you know of anything for him we can inform him. He seemed well.

Tomorrow I will leave Portofino South for the summer. I regret that I will be signing off till next fall. I am sorry to leave and not reporting on the big projects that are going to happen. I cross my fingers.

From Brick Underground.com

What happens if my apartment is damaged by water from a neighbor’s apartment? Who’s responsible for covering the repairs?

ANSWER:

If you’re facing a water damage issue in your apartment, who ends up paying will depend on where the water is coming from, and in some cases, who caused the leak, says Steven Wagner, a co-op and condo attorney with Wagner Berkow LLP and a longtime board member of his own 420-unit Manhattan co-op. It will also depend on whether your building is a co-op or a condo.

“In a condo, if there’s no real proof that the leak was caused by someone else’s negligence, everything in the ‘unit’ is the responsibility of its owner, and everything outside is a ‘common element’ for which the board of managers is responsible,” says Wagner Berkow partner Ian Brandt.

“It’s a lot more cut and dried, if you’ll excuse the pun, than it is in co-ops,” adds Wagner. However, what is technically defined as your condo unit can get a little tricky. “You have to look at the Declaration of Condominium to see what is considered the unit and what is considered a common element of the building,” says Wagner. “In condos, sometimes they define a unit as being midway through a wall or the exterior. And if the unit owner owns it, it’s their responsibility.”

In a co-op, things are more complicated, but it’s also more likely that the building will be responsible for shouldering the bulk of the costs, both inside and outside the apartments. Besides checking the proprietary lease to determine who owns the area where the leak took place [i.e. whether it’s your apartment or a common area], housing laws such as the Warranty of Habitability, the Housing Maintenance Code and the Multiple Dwelling Law will come into play here, too, and often make the landlord—in this case, the co-operative—responsible for repairs.

The third thing to consider is whether the leak was caused by negligence, whether on the part of one of your neighbors, the board, or a contractor working in the building. “If somebody is negligent and damages someone else’s apartment, or if the co-op or condo is negligent, then that party is the one who is ultimately responsible,” says Wagner.

(Though keep in mind that if the damage is a specific person’s fault, that doesn’t mean that a co-op can shirk its duties and wait for the individual to pony up and make the repairs. “Third party fault is never an excuse for a co-op not to fulfill its contractual or statutory repair obligations,” says Brandt, “But the co-op can sue the cuplable party. It would be a huge mistake for the corporation to say, ‘We’re not doing this because it’s someone else’s fault.'”)

Regardless of responsibility, though, Wagner recommends, in both co-ops and condos, addressing the problem immediately with your insurance company, rather than waiting for someone else to step in. “It’s always a good idea to try to resolve the physical issues, because otherwise things will fester, you could develop mold or other conditions,” says Wagner. “Take care of it. Don’t wait for all of the lawsuits to start and for the insurance companies to resolve the issues. They don’t necessarily move as quickly.”

For this reason, it’s a good idea to have homeowners’ insurance that covers “betterments and improvements,” to guarantee that any upgrades you’ve personally made to the apartment (painting, furniture, new appliances, etc.) will be covered in the event of damage, as the building won’t always be responsible for those.

“If you’re adequately insured, the best thing to do is to go to your own insurance company, and have them adjust your claim,” says Wagner. “And let the insurance company be the one who goes after the other parties. They can bring a lawsuit in your name. Very often what will happen is they will simply tender a claim to the responsible party’s insurance, and work out the arrangement directly with the other insurance company.”

You should also put your building’s management on notice about the damages, and give them access to your apartment as requested. “You have to tell the co-op board and say, ‘Please come back and look, send your adjusters and insurers,'” says Brandt. “If the co-op doesn’t know and isn’t given access, they have no liability.”

“The best scenario is that the co-op’s insurer and the shareholder’s insurer work out an apportionment of the loss,” adds Brandt.

The meeting was about rescinding a motion and put another motion on the table. A lot of procedure language. ML put a new motion of the exact prices of the redo of the hallways, ceilings, lights and the ceilings above the elevators. Thus, they then could vote on an assessment.

Some members want a small assessment for only this project, some want a larger assessment to include the parking lot and the cooling tower. They discussed a single assessment or many assessments. Some wanted to wait two weeks when we have an estimate for the parking lot where there is a great deal of confusion about the estimated total cost of this project.

Some members are more realistic about doing the hallways first as we have no money and a large loan. No financial planning has been discussed or a payment schedule for these assessments. We need to prioritize projects for their importance. there was a motion to table the hallways but it did not pass.

This board with its new president does not come to the meeting with a clear agenda or a strategy. There were also few condo owners in the audience and the majority never speak up or raise a question. THESE ARE VERY IMPORTANT ISSUES FOR EVERYBODY THAT LIVES IN THE BUILDING SHOULD BE PARTICIPATING.

Condo Docs revised:

I received the new copy but cannot see the changes. They were not bolded or underlined.

I still have questions and comments on the original and the new version. They are below. (they are mine and not be construed that others should feel they way I do )

A5- 7 pages are not in the new packet

B1- 19 pages are missing

p.D2-point 2.9- we should add a visible list of committees- not in this definition

p.D4-point 2.25- they should add internet

p.D9- point 7.2-problem with language “ without regard to whether”

p.D12- point 8- you renewed the card room without the vote from the association which this point specifies

page D14 point g iii-add old carpeting with worn out padding

D15 point (iv) kitchen exception

p.D19 (g) retain records of all alterations and contractors that do them for a period of 2 years-these records are not maintained now.

On assessments- condo owners are not protected by the board from issuing any assessments that the majority of condo owners do not want or approve.

p.D24- point 13- Insurance-not strong enough management should know who has or does not have insurance.***

p.D26 point 13.4 (b) I – why it would be determined by the association -I think it should read the insurance company not the association.

p.D30 point 15.5- discretion of the board – no we need an outside opinion

p.D30 point 15.5 (a) think the order should be mortgage company, then condo owner, then association

p.D32 point 16.1- currently we have a group of Filipinos domestic help that works on the island and we have young men in 1007 that are not related . Do they go when these rules go into effect?

p.D33 2nd paragraph- at the end records should be kept for a minimum of 1 year of guests-retention of records is legally correct-retention of records

34 (c ) do we keep this info and do we ask for a renewal

(f) not patrolled

And finally, the parking Exhibit A does not follow the original condo docs which I have a copy of.

I do not know who revised it but it was never discussed in a board metting nor was there a committee appointed.

Doug Spain spoke and finally gave us a thorough outline and description of what the lights will be like and the ceiling tiles.

Of course there was much discussion between the board and the audience as this adds a great deal of money to the already huge money that they want to spend on the parking lots and cooling tower.

Usually i go into the specifics of the discussion but this time I will not as it is a very complicated matter because of the future assessment which can not to put into effect without firm bids on all projects.

The work in the halls is not firm,the parking lot only has one bid and the cooling tower is in January. And the assessment is inevitable but how much and when?

The final version of the new docs is ready to be picked up and reviewed by condo owners . They have to give us 14 days before we vote on them. Of course, the changes and/or additions are not bolded or italicized so they are difficult to read again. I have my notes on the items I thought were important to me and will try to see if those are changed. April 18th is the date for the vote on the condo docs.